Here's my next interview with Ellen Shelly from "Shelly Ancestry"
My full name is Ellen Shelly. Shelly is the name I am known by. 1) What got you into genealogy & how long have you been researching for? I’ve been researching my own family tree for more than 20 years. I think I first became interested in family relationships at primary school, when I was learning about the Greek Gods. What complicated family trees they have! Around the same time I was shown the family bible of my adoptive family, and in my early 20s my aunt gave me a small photo album showing my great grandparents from my ‘birth’ family. I’ve always considered both families to be ‘mine’ – and I’ve been very lucky that both families considered me to be ‘theirs’. They were all from north Lincolnshire, so I have been hoping to find an ancestor who appears in both family trees. No luck so far! 2) What interesting things have you discovered about your ancestors? I’ve noticed that many of my male ancestors died while they had several small children and babies less than a year old. I’m proud to see how their widows managed to raise their children alone. Many of my ancestors lived near to their brothers and sisters as adults, and children often appeared in the UK censuses in the households of their grandparents. I also found that one branch of my family were educated at Cambridge University and were clerics at various parishes in Lincolnshire in the seventeenth century. I have seen their signatures in the parish register pages which is a real link to a time when no other images were available for them. They performed the baptism and marriage ceremonies of their family – as well as some burials for their own young children 3) Who/What are you currently focusing on in your research? I have a 3x great grand mother whose baptism I have not been able to locate. I’m 80% certain that I know which family she belonged to. Right now I am reconstructing the families of the same surname, in the village where I know she was born, to see if there is another family group that she may have belonged to. 4) Have you come across any difficulties while researching your family (e.g. Conflicting sources) There is conflicting information in many family stories and in the records for some individuals. For instance, one of my 3x great grandmothers seems to have been less than honest with her age in census records, while her husband was alive, but after his death she provided her true age, which was about 8 years older. This allowed me to match her to a baptism record that I thought must be hers – but didn’t seem to match until I found that last census entry. My ancestor Job Hotson who died in August 1878 seems to have been buried in the local parish church in August that year – but according to the cemetery register on deceasedonline.com he was buried at Cleethorpes Cemetery in November 1878. 5) What advice would you give to people wanting to start genealogy? My advice would be similar to many other genealogists – speak to your older relatives as soon as you can. Record their voices, ask about their earliest memories. Write names on the back of their old photographs. Double-check everything! Don’t trust online family trees, even if you use them as a guide. Its essential to view original sources and verify all information to your own satisfaction. Remember to keep a note of where you found every piece of information – and the sources you have checked even though you didn’t find anything. This will save you repeating yourself and also allows you to retrace your steps and share your findings confidently with family members or other researchers. Write your ancestors lives as stories, describing their homes, villages and the events of the time, to draw in your family and interest them in their heritage.
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5) What advice would you give to people wanting to start genealogy?"More than anything else, I’d think of genealogy as detective work where the challenge is to see how the evidence fits together. It should always feel like a challenge - if it doesn’t it’s OK to take a break from it.
The practical skill that I would recommend developing is recording one’s sources: Save copies of electronic documents and images with descriptive file names and find a system of organising records that works for you. There’s no guarantee that one will be able to remember where a document came from, or that on-line documents will still be there the next time you look for them. Finally, I’d recommend making contact with other genealogists through social media. Twitter is great for genealogists and experienced family historians are extremely generous with their time and advice." Link any social media or webistes you want featured "On Twitter you’ll find me at @daviddobie2 (click on Twitter logo at beginning of interview) and I’m a regular on the #AncestryHour Twitter-chat. The early work on my One-Name Study is at www.moggach.org. For people researching their Scottish ancestry the records on ScotlandsPeople are invaluable. ScotlandsPlaces, Canmore and the National Library of Scotland’s Maps collections are all great for researching the geography of their ancestors’ country." Now there you have it! Another fantastic review from another brilliant person. Big thanks to David for taking part. I would honestly like to take this moment to thank every person on Twitter, Instagram and those who have commented on my posts for all the likes, RTs, mentions and heartfelt comments sent to me. I can't thank you all enough for the support that I have received in response to my blog. Thank you. Stay tuned for more... Hi guys,
Almost as soon as I had posted Paul Chiddicks' interview, his friend David wanted to get in on the action, so let's hear what he had to say for my questions... 1) What got you into genealogy & how long have you been researching for? "I was adopted as a very young child by two wonderful people who will always be my ‘real’ mom and dad. While I had always known that I also had genetic parents, I rarely thought much about them. In my early 20s I applied for my original birth certificate, but it only recorded my birth mother’s name and address in 1969. She had already passed away and I assumed that it would be impossible to find out more. At the age of 47 (three years ago) I suddenly got curious. Through some very intensive research - and some extremely lucky breaks - my late birth father’s identity has been established; I’ve documented all my ancestors for at least five generations and I’ve met distant cousins and my only surviving uncle. Genealogy has become the thing that fills every spare minute of my time. I love knowing about the people who all played a part in my history." 2) What interesting things have you discovered about your ancestors? "All my ancestors come from Scotland, mostly from the counties of Ross-shire, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire. They were mostly agricultural labourers, crofters, or tenant farmers with a couple of blacksmiths, coachmen and a merchant seaman thrown in.I get the sense that they were hardworking people who concentrated on raising a family and providing for their children. Most of my female ancestors are recorded as domestic servants or farmer’s wives. They probably worked even harder than their menfolk. My maternal grandmother and two of her sisters were nurses. One of them did part of her nurse training at the same hospital in Manchester where I was a student nurse. What has surprised me is how mobile people in Scotland were in the 19th century, presumably going where there was work available until they settled down. What shouldn’t be a surprise is the number of illegitimate children, and first children born within a few months of their parents’ marriage. Apparently, casual sex wasn’t invented in the 1960s." 3) Who/What are you currently focusing on in your research? "Writing-up the history of my direct line ancestors and their children in detail is fascinating. It’s a really good way to make sure one has got all the essential records and that everything checks-out. It is a great way of getting to know the people who went before you. Earlier this year I joined the Guild of One-Name Studies and have started to document every single person with the surname ‘Moggach’ and its variants. The Moggachs seem to originate in the historic county of Banffshire. It isn’t a particularly common surname - I’ve identified 549 people born with the surname. I have a feeling I’m probably related to every single one of them" 4) Have you come across any difficulties while researching your family?(e.g. Conflicting sources) "I think I’ve been lucky. Scotland’s statutory birth, marriage and death records were introduced in 1855. They are quite detailed and are generally extremely accurate. Things are harder with people who died before the 1841 Scotland Census, as the Old Parish Records, which are the major source of information, aren’t complete and the information recorded is quite variable. Once one has realised that ‘Mac’ and ‘Mc’ are interchangeable, the spelling of surnames is very hit-and-miss, even on the same document. One of my lines spell their surname Wagrel, Wagarel, Waggrel or Wagrell from one record to the next. They are a good example of why wildcard and soundex searches are so helpful for on-line genealogists. There are a few names in Scotland where it helps to know the variations. People born ‘Jane’ are regularly called ‘Jean’ when they appear on the census. ‘Janet’ often becomes ‘Jessie’ and ‘Margaret’ may be ‘Maggie’. Men tend to have fewer variations, though ‘Alexander’ can become ‘Sandy’." Now guys, here's a little treat for you. A person who I can gladly share and relate to as we both share the same interests and he's practically the same in age to me! Meet Tyler a.k.a "teengenealogist14", he took part in my interview and he came back with some great answers (not saying the people that I have interviewed already haven't given great answers!) Also Tyler is definitely worth a follow! Follow him on Instagram by clicking on the Instagram logo.
Q1. What got you into genealogy & how long have you been researching for? "Well, I have always been curious about my ancestry since I was in 1st grade and I would ask my great grandma where my family came from. But my interest in genealogy really took off in the final months of 2017 when my older sister started taking me to a library which had a genealogy lab and I began to research my genealogy. Ever since then, family history has been my biggest hobby. So I guess I’ve been doing genealogy for about a year and a half." Q2. What interesting things have you discovered about your ancestors? "Oh gosh, where do I begin?!? I’ve learned and discovered so much about my family’s past in such a short time, unfortunately some of it was rather sad. But there’s also quite a lot of cool/interesting things too. Some of the things I’ve found out is that one of my 12th great grandfathers was the founder of Rhode Island, another was the founder of Nantucket Island, MA, and another was the last man in England to be burned at the stake in 1612, I have three very interesting 12th great grandpas! I learned also interesting family stories, from scandalous affairs to my great grandfather putting 100 chickens in his basement. " Q3. Who/What are you currently focusing on in your research? "Lately I've been trying to clean my messy family tree and documenting about my ancestry more in depth with stories and pictures" Q4. Have you come across any difficulties while researching your family? (e.g. Conflicting sources) "Since my dad’s family originated from Vietnam, it is pretty much impossible to research his side of my family because Vietnam has never kept vital records, the only research I could do was ask my grandparents and aunts/uncle about my family which only gets you so far." Q5. What advice would you give to people wanting to start genealogy? "ALWAYS, I repeat always, cite your research, that makes your research credible. Also, never just copy information from someone else's tree into yours without making sure everything is well documented, sourced, and verified." Well there you have it! Another great interview with some cool and interesting (by far!) answers from Tyler. Big thank you to Tyler for answering my questions! Stay tuned for more and if you want to take part in my interview please DM me on Instagram (@daniels_genealogy) or Tweet/DM me on Twitter (@DanielGenealogy) My next interview is with Paul Chiddicks from "Chiddicks Tree". Let's see what he had to say!
Q1. What got you into genealogy & how long have you been researching for? "I am 55 years old and my Dad sadly died when I was just three years old. As I got older I realised there was a “gap” in my life, something missing. So I started asking questions about my Dad and just never stopped asking questions. I have been researching for around 20 years now, but only seriously in the last ten years" Q2. What interesting things have you discovered about your ancestors? "Before I started I had no idea that I was descended from Italian ancestors, so that was a really interesting discovery. I have also discovered that one of my ancestors was involved in an accident where a young boy was accidentally shot with a shotgun." Q3. Who/What are you currently focusing on in your research? "I am filling in the gaps of some of my closer ancestors and I am currently writing a biography for all eight of my great-grandparents" Q4. Have you come across any difficulties while researching your family? (e.g. Conflicting sources) "There are lots of conflicts, miss transcriptions etc that can lead you up the wrong, I would always advise to look at the original entry, if you can, when there is a conflict" Q5. What advice would you give to people wanting to start genealogy? "Keep asking questions! Start asking your older family members today for their memories and stories, you never know how long you will have them around. Don’t be afraid to challenge convention, Genealogy should be accessible for anybody and everybody and has to be inclusive for all" Well there you have it. What you always have to remember and it's something that Paul had said. Challenge convention, whether your 10 years old or 20 years old, start today! Stay tuned for more. Check out Paul's website by clicking on his picture and follow him on Twitter by clicking the Twitter icon below his picture. Also a huge thank you to Paul for accepting my interview! Stay tuned for more... Hello again guys!
I have another interviewee, Zoe Krainik from "Hollywood Genes". Her Twitter is linked on the Twitter logo and click on her photo for her website. Read on to see what her answers were, and her answers will amaze you! Q1. What got you into genealogy & how long have you been researching for? "I've always been interested in connecting with family and fascinated by ethnicity and genetics, but I really got serious about the research aspect after I had my daughter. I realized I wanted to document it for her because it's her story, too." Q2. What interesting things have you discovered about your ancestors? "I discovered that my 10th great grandfather, Hans Herr, was the first Mennonite bishop to immigrate to America. Because of researching him, I've become intrigued by the Swiss Mennonites and their story and beliefs." Finding my Charlemagne connection (he's my 39th great grandfather) has also been really exciting. It's amazing to think that it's even possible to learn about ancestors who lived that long ago. This connection is through my grandfather, who was quite into family history himself, but never knew this. He passed away right before I found out about it, but I know he would have really gotten a kick out of it." Q3. Who/What are you currently focusing on in your research? "I'm sort of all over the place right now. Mostly, I'm trying to go back and fill in some missing information, make sure sources are cited, etc. I spend a lot of my free time going over my DNA matches and trying to figure out how they fit into my tree." Q4. Have you come across any difficulties while researching your family (e.g. Conflicting sources) "One of my close surnames is Brown. You can imagine the difficulties I've run into when trying to research a name as common as that... There's information to be found, but it's been hard to verify." Q5. What advice would you give to people wanting to start genealogy? "I would tell them to start asking questions early! Don't assume that relatives will always be there. Ask the questions, offer the DNA tests, and record their stories while you can." So there you have it! Make sure to give Zoe a follow! She'll more than happy offer her opinion and try to help you answer your questions. Big thanks to Zoe for taking part! Hi all!
This is the first of my interviews. This would've gone under "My Posts!" but unfortunately when I was making the website I accidentally deleted the Categories section but if someone knows how to get it back again that'd be very much appreciated But lets get into it! My first interview is with Katelyn from "My Family Tree Online" (Page is linked at social icon at the top of the page!) and I asked her a few questions which might encourage you to start your genealogical journey today! Q1. What got you into genealogy & how long have you been researching for? "It was last year (July 2018) in my summer school US History class. We were talking about the four men who "built America", and my teacher brought up that he had some sort of relation with one of them. He then brought up Ancestry.com and DNA testing, which can tell if you're related to famous people of history and what not. I got home that very day, and began my research. Having already been a history nerd since I can remember, it was too easy to get addicted!" Q2. What interesting things have you discovered about your ancestors? "I've discovered some interesting and rather sad things about my ancestors, but I think one of the most interesting so far is that my Great Grandfather Chester was a drummer, womanizer, and bar-hopper back in his day. I also saw somewhere that one of my Great Uncle's - I don't know how many GREATS though - was born with his heart on the right side of his chest." Q3. Who/What are you currently focusing on in your research? "I kind of go back and forth with my lines on all sides of my family, but I stick to my Harkers' side. They're providing the most pictures out of all of them, and I'm so curious how my GG Grandmother coped with taking care of SIX CHILDREN with the loss of her husband." Q4. Have you come across any difficulties while researching your family? (e.g. Conflicting sources) "Oh, why yes I have. With all research comes messed up sources and documents. It's something that I've oftentimes managed to get around, thankfully." Q5. What advice would you give to people wanting to start genealogy? I'm a rookie myself, but I think my best piece of advice is DON'T FOLLOW THE LEAVES, and ALWAYS fact check, especially if it's word-of-mouth info, or on public trees on FamilySearch. Anybody can change/forgot anything, and it's best to have a story as factual and failproof as possible. Big thank you to Katelyn for taking part. As I am still learning from other people I can definitely pick up plenty of tips from Katelyn & the people who are coming next. Stay tuned for more... |
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